Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imprint apparatus and a method of manufacturing an article.
Description of the Related Art
The imprint technique can form a nanoscale fine pattern, and is coming into practical use as one of lithography techniques for volume production of magnetic storage media and semiconductor devices. An imprint apparatus which employs the imprint technique forms a pattern on a substrate such as a silicon wafer or a glass plate using a mold (die), as an original, on which a fine pattern (unevenness) has been formed. The imprint apparatus, for example, coats the substrate with a light curable resin (for example, an ultraviolet-curing resin), and molds the resin using the mold. The resin is irradiated with light (for example, ultraviolet light) to be cured, and then the mold is separated from the cured resin, thereby forming the pattern of the resin on the substrate.
In a separating step of separating the mold from the cured resin on the substrate in the imprint apparatus, charge (separating charge) may occur on the respective surfaces of the mold and the patterns (transfer patterns) of the resin on the substrate. The separating charge may cause the discharge breakdown of the transfer pattern and the attraction of dust (particles) to the mold, thus causing a transfer pattern defect.
In order to reduce separating charge, Japanese Patent No. 5137635 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-286085 propose an imprint apparatus including an antistatic apparatus (ionizer). The imprint apparatus uses the ionizer which performs irradiation with soft X-rays free from dust.
In a conventional technique, however, the soft X-rays from the ionizer irradiate an uncured resin which exists within the imprint apparatus to start the polymerization reaction (curing reaction) of the resin. When a coating apparatus which coats (supplies) the substrate with the resin is arranged within the imprint apparatus, in particular, a resin which exists in the discharge outlet of the resin is cured upon irradiation of the discharge outlet with the soft X-rays, and the coating the substrate with the resin becomes unstable.